bran
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Post by bran on Jul 1, 2017 14:33:31 GMT -5
Phantom, no question. The Singh Brotherhood is in my book one of the best action-adventures of all times. Today the term "action" stands for bloodless, highly-choreographed and "clean" violence (at least in Hollywood). Way back in 30s they used term action for: - Horseback riding - Parachuting - Deep sea diving and swimming - Driving cars and piloting planes - Every other outdoor activity you can think of Phantom performs all of the above in just first couple of episodes. [What is BTW common for those activities - one type or another of tight-suite, right?] It's just overall a great story with a great characters, drawn well. Sounds simple. I love David's Phantom mini from the late 80's and the Phantom is just such a great character in general. Have no clue why he's so popular overseas as opposed to his own country of origin, but it's the same for a lot of others too Thank you very much for sharing that info. Never heard of that one. He is, and a lot of unused potential as a property (franchise). Usually "franchised-heroes" (such as cb super-heroes or James Bond movies for example) are in their perpetual 20s or 30s, than what about the era where it all takes place, than there are re-boots, convoluted retconing and so forth. Lee Falk resolved all of that, in the most elegant manner, from the get go (maybe unintentionally) - and never really used it! Nor did any other writer, as far as I know. Then there is a possibility of telling stories from the past, say 19th century Phantom(s) (which he used, a bit), then connecting them in some way.. Options are endless.
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bran
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Post by bran on Jul 1, 2017 12:55:08 GMT -5
there was Little Annie Fanny and her arch-enemy Wanda (the Wicked)..
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bran
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Post by bran on Jul 1, 2017 12:52:07 GMT -5
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bran
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Post by bran on Jul 1, 2017 0:34:31 GMT -5
Phantom, no question. The Singh Brotherhood is in my book one of the best action-adventures of all times. Today the term "action" stands for bloodless, highly-choreographed and "clean" violence (at least in Hollywood). Way back in 30s they used term action for: - Horseback riding - Parachuting - Deep sea diving and swimming - Driving cars and piloting planes - Every other outdoor activity you can think of Phantom performs all of the above in just first couple of episodes. [What is BTW common for those activities - one type or another of tight-suite, right?] Finally Phantom was French-kissing on a regular basis, with some exceptions: [It's sweet, she wanted to provide him with at least some kind of comfort. Men don't operate like that girl...] It's just overall a great story with a great characters, drawn well. Sounds simple.
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bran
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Post by bran on Jun 30, 2017 8:19:20 GMT -5
I'm not very familiar with Asterix at all. When I first got into Tintin, my best friend was reading Asterix and we used to have this rivalry about who was best. Obviously I was right and Tintin is infinitely superior to the little fella with the big moustache. Heh! Heh! Heh! I'm not sure I would agree... But I'm not sure Astérix can be translated successfully. The references are very, very French and Goscinny had an amazing way of turning a phrase; it would take an outstanding translator to go beyond the simple puns. I would definitely not bother with the Astérix books not written by Goscinny, though. In that, the series failed to do what Tintin did: present a uniformly great, classic series, without the slow death of the overextended title. What do you think Raider about Cinebook's translation of Iznogoud? I would give it a pass. Speaking of witch, here is some news: After Sixty Years, André Franquin’s Gaston To Be (Finally) Translated Into English, As Gomer Goof
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bran
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Post by bran on Jun 29, 2017 14:37:07 GMT -5
I loved that original Spider-Man. Stan packed a lot of stuff there. I particularly liked how Peter Parker actually enjoyed being a Spider-Man (the other super-heroes were there out of vengeance, duty, morality, a need to maintain law and order etc). Spider-Man was there out of resposibility. With great power comes great responsibility. Right, and the great power is fun, and he is not hiding it for a second.
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bran
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Post by bran on Jun 29, 2017 11:07:13 GMT -5
It's hard to choose, but my favourite writer/artist team in comics is probably Stan Lee and John Romita on Amazing Spider-Man. Them's some damn great comics! As for a never realised dream team, I'd like to see Alan Moore working with Will Eisner...or maybe with Doug Wheatly on some horror title. I loved that original Spider-Man. Stan packed a lot of stuff there. I particularly liked how Peter Parker actually enjoyed being a Spider-Man (the other super-heroes were there out of vengeance, duty, morality, a need to maintain law and order etc). It's almost as if he liked his super villains. Hell it's understandable, his class-mates were much more sinister than Sinister 6. You have some new Moore's short stories, (genre not set in stone - there is horror, humor, paradox) in new mag Cinema Purgatorio. I didn't have time to examine more, maybe overpriced, but it's looking good.
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bran
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Post by bran on Jun 28, 2017 22:41:01 GMT -5
It's always been difficult to find artists to draw the Spirit properly, but for years I had the artistic dream team. Pencils: Jim Mooney. Good standard anatomy, lovely women, but capable of doing scenes which are 'dark' and involve intense emotions. Inks: Bill Loebs. His style is too cartoony for the Spirit, but his sense of line is the closest to Eisner of any other artist, and I think providing a gloss over a more realistic penciller you'd wind up with an approximation of classic Eisner. Would love to see Terry Moore's take on Spirit. And say Peter David story.
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bran
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Post by bran on Jun 27, 2017 11:52:35 GMT -5
I am planning on covering Ernie Pike, soon, as I have pdfs of the material, in Spanish. However, it may take a little time, as my Spanish is very rusty and I want to read a bit before commenting. Unfortunately, outside of Corto Maltese, there isn't much Pratt material in the US, though I believe Sgt Kirk is soon to be translated. I also want to look at Tangy et Laverdure; but, my French is worse than my Spanish. I've got a little Buck Danny, but it is later stuff. I would love to get my hands on the classic, earlier material, that was set during WW2. I am planning on looking at Berlin: The Seven Dwarves, from Marvano, which Cinebook has translated to English, as well as their Cinebook Presents volume about the Battle of Britain and the Falklands War. Next up, though, I thought I'd hit a little less serious war book and take a look at a favorite Sgt Fury and His Howling Commandos tale. Wahooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Right on, Stan was in the army (for a couple of years I think), and it shows. Looking forward. Apparently like Pratt he never thought much of it, one of those things. They wanted to do other stuff. Pratt applied a lot of his war-experience to, my personal favorite book of his - The Scorpions of the Desert. Wanted to post just the image, but there is more, much more, just get it (you'll thank me later): Autumn 1940, in the desert on the border between Libya and Egypt. The protagonists of the story are a group of men that belong to the fighting elite of the British Army: the Long Range Desert Group, aka the Scorpions of the Desert. They come from every battlefield of the Empire, and they travel alone, on the edges of the great maneuvers. They appropriate jeeps, armored vehicles, camels; or they march for days on end before an attack, striking and disappearing behind the sand dunes without much regard for rules. But everything is bewildering around here, the borders, the enemy’s uniforms, the colors and the flags on the vehicles used by these men. Sometimes whoever is telling a story doesn’t tell the whole truth... cortomaltese.com/en/ebook-the-scorpions-of-the-desert/Note. Last 2 books are done in his later style. More loose drawing, which some people don't like (think of Sin City), and different pacing. I suggest go with 1-3 first. As for Aeronauts/Tangy et Laverdure, these are not a classic war-stories, rather men on the mission type of thing (it's post WWII - 50s/60s). Sometimes they inject themselves into the local war zones, but it's a different beast altogether. I bought last year first 5 volumes (there are 3 to go) to see if Charlier ever wrote a bad story - and he didn't! But - aside from genius plotting of that son of a gun, as an overall product it didn't age all that well (in contrast to Blueberry).
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bran
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Post by bran on Jun 27, 2017 11:42:40 GMT -5
Joe Kubert and Roy Thomas on Conan. Well, Roy is retiring the same way Sinatra was retiring, everything is possible.
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bran
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Post by bran on Jun 26, 2017 17:53:08 GMT -5
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Post by bran on Jun 26, 2017 15:43:36 GMT -5
1. Whats your favorite writer/artist team? Every once in awhile emerges Jagger/Richards type of collaboration in comics, where the the product yields more than a sum of it's parts, as they say. Here is on one for the start: Doug Moench/Bill Sienkiewicz (Moon Knight) Doug Moench... Man understands a hero/main character is as good as the Universe that he creates for him, side characters and all that. Here, in addition, the main character contains several characters... I don't know if whoever wrote the Fight Club got the ideas from here, but Doug created a sand-box that can be exploited to no end. Sienkiewicz's art is just spectacular. At that time he was still drawing conventionally with some color overlays for a stronger impact. Closeups, zoom-outs, you name it - it's all there. Bronze Age Blog: Moon Knight - Hit It!
2. Also, who would you team up? Artist/writer that never collaborated before, but would create the magic IYO. They must be alive (and not taken away to work on movies/video games ); they are actively in business. A fantasy match-up: I would put this guy who dre w Royal Blood, Dongzi Liu, on one of the remaining A Song of Ice and Fire adaptations.
EDIT: You can tell people who reading comics on a regular basis are thinking out of the box. So I am adding the 3rd category: 3. A Total Fantasy Match-up - Writers, artists who passed away (or are retired; moved to movies/video-games) are a fair game.
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bran
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Post by bran on Jun 22, 2017 23:05:43 GMT -5
They get better and then they get worse. Really I think most artists just get tired after a while. You don't have as much drive as you did when you were younger. As far as Ditko goes, circa 1980: That's just awful. and this is the same artist, his early work (from Eerie/Creepy mag): there are no rules thought, checkout Hermann, here in his 60s (Afrika 2):
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bran
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Post by bran on Jun 22, 2017 22:35:41 GMT -5
I've only been including original works by Moench, but I'm personally interested in that adaptation outside of the scope of this thread. I'm curious to see how much "Moench" he manages to infuse into the adaptation. Thanks for bringing this up! Sure! There is a Tomb of Lost Visions, a full length Conan story (over 50 pages), wonderfully inked by Alcala (unfortunately only 1 half, but the rest is fine). You can find a real gems in those old mags. Well, all gems are hidden are guess. [It's Savage Sword of Conan 180] EDIT: The main character created by REH of course, if you are only reviewing stories 100% Doug, it doesn't fit.
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bran
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Post by bran on Jun 22, 2017 15:31:31 GMT -5
Sure, by arc, more specifically by writer. Even in old comics from 60s/70s, when they were not emphasizing the authors, you can easily detect start/end of their respective runs.
The funny thing is, you can sometimes find Chris Claremont, Roy Thomas or Peter David right in the middle of someone else's run (a single issue, stands like a sore thumb). Now if you track down that particular issue - it starts something like this: first image - Happy Hulk driving the space ship. Yes, it was built specifically giant size for Hulk (1 item), he learned to pilot it and all. I guess they were assigned to fix it (I call it a "Joel Schumacher syndrome", even thought it came later), to the best of their abilities...
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